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Hey COcyclist!
I think that you're probably right about the limited benefits if I don't close the gap. I also am somewhat limited by what I can get for a trailer. The best options so far are a jet ski trailer, right about 60" wide to the outside of the fenders, the HF trailer which is about 63" or a single place snowmobile trailer if I can find one, which would be about 50", and the tires under it. I was considering building from scratch and using torsion half axles so that I could make it a little narrower yet, but this morning I started thinking that maybe I shouldn't try to minimize the width too much, as the width adds stability. The Forester is about 70" wide, so even at 60" I'm well inside of that. My buddy has offered me his popup trailer frame as a base to start with, which I might do, depending on the axle length. I really want to keep the width to less than the Forester, and seeing out the back window would be nice, although I could mount a cam if I really needed to.
If I keep it relatively low topped, I could haul kayaks on the top of it, which would keep them off the roof of the car for the times that we want to take kayaks, and hopefully down inside the wake of the TV. And if it's relatively square, it simplifies building, I wouldn't have to create a curved structure, or bend ply or create something out of fiberglass. That probably makes it more likely that I'd actually complete it!
So, maybe I should focus my energy on staying inside the tow vehicle's wake, maybe skirt the wheels, and a smooth underside, and minimizing the weight of the trailer. Those should all help to minimize the MPG hit of having the trailer on.
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